Telecommunication products typically require that technical tasks, such as installation, administration and/or monitoring be reduced to the simplest and minimal possible. This is typically achieved by designing telecommunication products which may be operated remotely thereby avoiding sending technicians at premises where a given telecommunication product is installed. As an example, remotely operated telecommunication products (also referred to as “PBX”) may allow technicians to perform some or all operations from a remote central technique center, also referred to as a remote service center (also referred to as “RSC”). Access to the one or more PBX by the RSC may be performed through remote connection capabilities that are embedded in the PBX themselves. As a PBX is typically installed within premises of an enterprise connected to a public switched telephone network (also referred to as “PSTN”), a technician may initiate a remote connection from a RSC to the PBX by setting up a modem call to one of direct inward lines (e.g., a public phone number) associated with the targeted enterprise. The PBX, by answering the modem call, then allows a data connection to be established. The data connection allows installation, administration and/or monitoring of the PBX from the RSC, by one or more technicians, without requiring the one or more technicians to be located in a premise where the PBX is physically installed.
Over the last decade, telecommunication operators have followed a trend of replacing PSTN accesses with pure Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. Such IP technologies include, for example, initiation protocol (SIP) trunks. SIP trunks typically operate over an IP connection routed toward a telecommunication service provider through networking equipment. Such networking equipment includes, for example, Internet access router performing network address translation (NAT) and/or firewalling. This change from PSTN to pure IP technologies does often no longer allow modem calls. This may be at least partially explained by the fact that modem-like connections over SIP trunks may not be supported by telecommunication service providers.
In addition, as IP data traffic initiated from outside of a local area network (LAN) is typically blocked by security policies implemented by network equipment associated with the LAN, the RSC can no longer initiate a connection from outside the LAN to a PBX located in the LAN. Even though the PBX could be configured in such a way that it would accept a remote connection request, a technician installing the PBX in the LAN of a premise may not have the authority to make such modifications to the security policy of the LAN to which the PBX is connected. Even if such modifications were feasible, they could potentially create a security breach in the LAN of the premise where the PBX is installed.
Improvements may be therefore desirable.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches.